Travel lock



Dec. 17, 1968 R. l. N. WEINGART 3,416,333

TRAVEL LOCK Filed Feb. 13, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

I 42 Em as I 1 39min H a I INVENTOR.

RICHARD l. N.WEINGART HIS ATTORNEY.

Dec. 17, 1968 R. 1. N. WEINGART TRAVEL LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 13, 1967 FIG.

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INVENTOR.

RICHARD l. N. WEINGART %4 F wag,

HIS ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Oflice 3,416,333 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 3,416,333 TRAVEL LOCK Richard I. N. Weingart, P.0. Box 1526, Nassau, Bahama Islands Filed Feb. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 615,651 8 Claims. 01. 70 14) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lock having a locking bar with teeth along an edge and an abutment to be inserted behind a portion of members to be locked, and a locking plate which has an opening to receive the bar, and be secured thereto, the plate engaging the outside of the member, and a holding plate, secured to the locking plate by a padlock and which holds the bar in teeth engaging position.

This invention relates to portable locks, primarily for travel purposes, for closet, desk and dresser drawers in hotel rooms, and for a variety of other purposes and which employs a padlock for the locking element.

The device of the present invention employs an elongated locking bar with a hook shaped abutment at one end which is inserted in a strike. plate opening in a door frame and extends rearwardly through the space between the door and frame, the locking bar having teeth or notched serrations along opposed longitudinal edges or along only one of such edges.

The principal feature of the invention consists in the provision of a pair of cooperating plates having openings through which the locking bar passes and which are in face-to-face contact for limited sliding movement. One of these plates is a locking plate, i.e., locks itself to the locking bar and the bar to the plate and prevents relative movement between them. Its opening has two opposed edges spaced apart a distance to snugly receive the toothed edge or edges and thus prevent relative movement with the locking bar so long as the latter is held with its opposed flat faces at right angles to said edges. The other plate is a holding plate for the locking bar and it holds the locking bar in the foregoing position which is accomplished by providing an opening shaped to freely pass the locking bar therethrough but to hold it close enough to prevent the locking bar from rotating.

The locking plate opening has an extension having dimensions at least as large and preferably of the same size as the opening in the bar holding plate so that when the two latter openings and the extension opening are aligned, which is effected by sliding the plate slightly out of coincidence, the bar can pass freely through both openings and the plates moved tightly against the door and frame or other members to be locked. The plates are now moved into coincidence during which movement the bar is moved from the opening extension to the opening, in which position one of said two opposed edges of the opening enters the root between two teeth or if there are teeth along both edges of the bar, both opposed edges, which are preferably bevelled, enter the roots.

To hold the plate in coincidence and the whole assembly in looked relation, overlying lugs extending forwardly from each plate have aligned apertures to receive the shackle of a padlock or other securing element. To assure easy sliding movement of the two plates, there should be provided trackways on one plate or other equivalent means.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a broken horizontal section through a door and frame and showing the lock with the parts in locked relation;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the structure of the present invention and the parts in locking relation;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the lock of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a broken view of the holding plate;

FIG. 6 is a broken view of the locking plate showing the contour of its opening;

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 3 except that the looking bar has teeth along opposed edges and the view also shows the second locking plate laterally offset from the first locking plate;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the locking bar in its locking position, normal to the locking plate;

FIG. 9 is a broken view of the holding plate;

FIG. 10 is a broken view of the locking plate;

FIG. 11 is a front elevation of a modified form wherein the holding plate moves vertically with reference to the locking plate;

FIG. 12 is a section on line 1212 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a front elevation similar to FIG. 11 but showing the holding plate in lowered position;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the holding plate;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the locking plate; and

FIG. 16 shows the application of the lock to a dresser drawer.

The lock of the present invention includes a flat locking bar 10, a locking plate 11 and looking bar holding plate 12'. The locking bar has serrations or teeth 14 extending along one or both of its longitudinal edges. While the provision of teeth along only one edge, as shown in FIG. 4, gives good results, a greater measure of security is afforded if the teeth are formed along both edges as shown in FIG. 8. In other words, forcing of the lock requires the teeth to shear off the ends of the slot in the locking plate and the provision of teeth along both edges about doubles the force required to effect this shearing action. The locking bar also has a laterally ex-- tendinghook-like abutment 18 at its inner end which is received in an opening 19 in a strike plate 20 in a fixed door frame 21. This door framehas an opening 22 which is generally aligned with opening 19 and normally receives a spring .pressed latch bolt 24 extending-from a lock (not shown) in a door 26. The bolt is shown in broken line because it is in a retracted position when the abutment 18 of the locking bar is in the position of FIG. 1. There is normally a slight space or clearance shown'at 28 between a hinged door and the door frame which is sufficient to receive the thin fiat locking bar. The plates have openings which receive the locking bar, said openings having dimensions which are related to the dimensions of the width of the locking bar and its teeth. The locking bar 10 shown in FIG. 4 has teeth 14 along one edge, the other edge 29 being straight and there is a dimension A between the root located between two adjoining teeth, and thef-opposite straight edge 29 and there is a second dimension B which is the overall width of the bar.

The locking plate has an opening which includes two opposed edges .30 and 31 which are spaced apart a distance C which is slightly greater than dimension B.

The opening has two other edges 32 and 34- which are spaced apart a distance D which is greater than dimension A. Edge 32 is bevelled and edge 34 is shown as forming a continuation of edge 31 and there is a dilong as the bar is held against rotation on its major axis, plate 11 is locked to the bar and the bar locked to the plate.

The bar is held in this latter position by means of a slot or opening in holding plate 12 having two short edges 38 spaced apart a distance equal to dimension C and two longer edges 39 spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of the locking bar so the latter can move freely through this slot. Between edges 30-31 there is a vertical edge 40 of a length equal to dimension C and an opposite edge 42 equal to dimension D.

The openings in the plate are so located that narrow slot 38-39 is aligned with opening 30-31 when plate 11 has been moved to the right when viewed as in FIG. 7 but the inner ends of edge 32-34 are \aligned with edges 38 when the plates are in coincidence as in FIGS..2 and 3. This sliding movement is facilitated by trackways 42 formed along the upper and lower edges of plate 12. Any other guiding means such as a pin-and-slot arrangement may be used.

Holding plate 12 has a lug 44 struck out and bent forwardly and locking plate 11 has a similar lug 46 which overlies lug 44 and also has an upwardly extending flange 47 which limits movement of locking plate 11 to the left when viewed as in FIG. 2. Lower flange 42 has a pin 48 passing to the plate .12 which limits movement of plate 11 to the right (FIG. 7). The lugs have openings 50 which are aligned when the plates are in coincidence and the shackle 51 of a padlock 52 passes through these openings and locks the plate against any movement.

The locking bar is placed with its anchor 18 in the strike plate slot with its body section extending forwardly as in FIG. 1. The plates, one offset relative to the other, are now applied to the bar, the latter passing through slots 38-39 in plate 12- and 30-31 in plate 11. When the plate encounters the door and frame, they are moved into coincidence and the padlock applied. It was earlier pointed out that a greater safety factor is provided if the bar has teeth along both edges.

This is the arrangement of FIGS. 7 and 8 where bar is identical with bar 10 of FIG. 1 except that is has lower teeth 18 as well as upper teeth 14. The locking plate 11 is also identical with plate 11 except that it is modified to receive the lower teeth 18. In other words, the upper edge has section 30' and 32' connected by diagonal section 36. The lower edge, instead of being straight, has short section 31' and bevelled section 33 connected by diagonal section 36'. The holding plate 12 with its flanges 42' has the narrow slot with opposed edges 38'-38 and 3939 of identical proportions to holding plate 12.

The dimensions X and Y are identical with corresponding dimensions B and C of FIGS. 4 and 3 while the dimensions W and Z are slightly less than corresponding dimensions A and D.

In the modified arrangement of FIGS. 11-15 the locking bar 60 with upper teeth 61 and lower teeth 62, is identical with the locking bar 10' FIG. 8 and the locking plate 64 and holding plate 66 are slidable vertically with reference to each other and one plate has pins 68 which pass through slots 69 in the other plate to guide the plates in their sliding movement instead of the trackways 42 in the first embodiment.

A plan view of the locking plate is shown in FIG. and there is an opening with two opposed short edges 70 and 71 which are spaced apart a dimension Y which is greater than the overall width X of the locking bar. A third edge 73 has the dimension Y. It also has a side extension with two opposed edges 72 and 74 which are bevelled and which are received in the roots between two adjoining teeth 61 and 62 along each edge. These edges are spaced apart a distance greater than W which is the distance between the roots of two opposed teeth of the locking bar.

The holding plate has an opening with a lower section having a lower end wall 76 of a length greater than the thickness of the locking bar, thus presenting two opposed edges 78 and 79 which perform the function of holding the locking bar so that the upper and lower toothed edges of the locking bar are always generally at right angle to edges 72 and 74.

This opening has an upper extension lying to the left of edge 78 and having a width defined by edge 80 equal substantially to the combined lengths of edge 70 and 72. Edge 81 is joined with edge 78 by a short diagonal edge section 83.

Holding plate 66 has a flange 82 and locking plate has a flange 84 at their upper ends with aligned holes 89 so that when the plates are in coincidence, as in FIGS. 11 and 12, the shackle 86 of a padlock 85 passes through aligned openings 89 to secure the two flanges together.

To lock the bar to the locking plate the holding plate is dropped (FIG. 13) so that the wide section at the upper end of the opening in plate 66 is generally aligned with the opening in looking plate 64. The bar passes through the opening defined by edges 70, 71 and 73. The holding plate is now moved up to the position of FIG. 11 wherein the bar is confined to the strict vertical position and the teeth are engaged and hold against movement by bevelled edges 72 and 74.

FIG. 16 shows the manner of use of the lock to secure dresser drawer 90 within a frame 911. The abutment 92 of the locking bar is inserted behind the frame and the drawer closed with the bar between the frame and upper edge of the drawer. The plates 93 are then applied to the bar and the plates moved rearwardly their full limit of travel and the padlock (not shown) secured to the plates.

While there have been described herein what are at present considered preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the essence of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the exemplary embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive of the invention,

the scope of which is defined in the appended claims, and that all modifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be included therein.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A portable auxiliary locking device for members such as doors, drawers and the like which are mounted in frames, said locking device including a relatively long, thin locking bar with teeth along at least one edge and provided with a laterally offset portion forming an anchor to be received in an opening in one of said members to be locked relative to the other, a locking plate having an opening within which the bar is positioned in a position perpendicular to the plate, said opening being formed at one end thereof with two opposed edges which are spaced apart a distance greater than the overall width of the locking bar and the other end with two other edges extending in the same direction and spaced apart a distance less than said width but greater than the distance from the roots of the teeth to the other side of said bar so that when the locking bar is moved from one end of the opening, where it is free to move therein, to the other end, where movement is restrained, the bar is secured against relative movement, a locking bar holding plate mounted in slidable, face-to-face relation to the locking plate and in general coincidence therewith, and having an opening shaped to pass the bar freely therethrough and whose opposed longitudinal edges substantially engage the opposed faces of the bar and prevent rotation of the same on its major axis and thus hold the teeth in locked relation to the locking plate, and means for locking the plates against relative movement when the plates are in said position.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein said latter locking means comprises lugs on each plate and having apertures which are in register when the plates are in coincidence, and a lock passing through said aperture to secure the plates against sliding movement.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein teeth are formed along both edges of the locking bar and said two other edges of the opening in the locking plate are received in the roots of two opposed teeth.

4. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein lugs are formed on the sliding plates which are in register when the plates are in coincidence and have holes which are also in register when in said position, and a padlock passing through said aligned holes from the locking means.

5. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein one of the plates has flanges along opposed edges receiving the corresponding edges of the other relatively slidable plate.

6. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein the relatively slidable plates have pin-and-slot connection therebetween.

7. The locking device defined in claim 1 wherein the opening in the holding plate has an extension whose edges are spaced apart a distance greater than said longitudinal edges to permit, when the plates are slid out of coincidence, sidewise movement of the locking bar from said first two opposed edges, when the locking plate is unsecured with reference to the locking bar, to said other two edges when the locking plate is free to move relative to the locking bar.

8. The locking device defined in claim 7 wherein said locking bar and plate are provided with flanges which overlay each other when the plates are in coincidence and having aligned holes when in such position, and a locking element passing through said flanges to secure them together.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 760,951 5/1904 Box 292294 928,820 7/1909 Tubor 14 2,720,102 10/1955 Spain 70-14 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD J. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 292292 

